Preliminary development of computed tomography (CT) scanner using transillumination imaging

Near-infrared transillumination imaging is useful in many biomedical applications such as human biometrics and animal experiments. Using near-infrared (NIR) light, we can able to obtain a two dimensional (2D) transillumination image of the internal absorption structure such as blood vessel structure, liver ... in a small animal body. If we can obtain projection images from many orientations, we can reconstruct a three dimensional (3D) image using various computed tomography techniques. In previous studies of our group, even with a simple system (light-emitting diode (LED)'s array and low-cost camera), we can obtain the blood vessel transillumination image of the human arm. In this paper, we propose preliminary research on the development of a computed tomography (CT) scanner prototype of human body parts using transillumination imaging.